In early February 2013, a dust storm arose in the Atlas Mountains along the border between Morocco and Algeria. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on February 6. Arising from multiple source points near the Morocco-Algeria border, the dust plumes blew toward the southeast.

Hugging Africa’s northwestern coast, the Atlas Mountains enjoy a much milder, wetter climate than the Saharan sand seas to the south. Dust storms can still arise, however, from the fine sediments of impermanent rivers and lakes that occur throughout this mountain range.